The other woman
by israelianbabe15
Summary: AU where Shannon and Kelly were not dead, but in witness protection... and it will be Ziva/Gibbs! not in a father/daughter kind of way. Rating changed to M
1. Chapter 1

AU where Shannon and Kelly didn't die. Instead they come back from witness protection after so many years and Gibbs had no idea...

**The other woman.**

The moment they walked into the bullpen, Ziva knew her life would never be the same. The look on his face made Gibbs seem a lot older than usual. A mixture of surprise, confusion, anger, love and more happiness than ever. Of course he didn't know what was going on, but the simple fact that his family was complete again was enough to make him happier than he had been in years. Ziva knew how much Shannon and Kelly meant to him. Drunken nights in his basement, just him and her, had revealed emotions that no one else ever got to see. He had never gotten over his family's death and as much as he tried to stop it, everything reminded him of the two beautiful redheads who had left his life too early. He had spent hours telling stories about Christmas parties or birthdays and described all the cute things Kelly used to do. Ziva would never forget any part of those stories, no matter how much alcohol had been running through her as he had told them. Just as much as he would never forget her stories, about her father, Ari and Mossad.

Ziva knew everything about Gibbs' life and he knew everything about hers. The secrets stayed between them and they both knew that would never change.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

The day they came back would always be known as the day everything changed, yet nobody on Gibbs' team seemed to be sure if the change was for better or worse.

Ducky was glad to see his best friend happy again. Abby was excited to finally meet the love of Gibbs' life and his adorable daughter. McGee was looking forward to a less grumpy Gibbs and Tony was afraid he wouldn't get head slaps anymore.

Besides that, Ziva was the only one who wasn't completely happy for him. Even though she would never have made it known, she was slightly jealous of Shannon. Drunk nights in her boss' basement would never happen again. The only person who understood her completely was now off limits. Her best friend would change.

Gibbs himself looked forward to having his family back, never letting them go again.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

Weeks after Shannon and Kelly's return, the changes started taking their toll.

Ducky was, of course, still happy for his best friend, but the fact that Gibbs now allowed him to finish his stories was beginning to annoy him. He wasn't used to taking this long for a simple autopsy and Jethro's lack of patience always helped with that.

Abby was starting to miss her silver haired fox. He kept meeting Shannon for lunch, forgetting Abby's Caf-Pow on the way back. She took that as a sign that he was slowly forgetting her.

McGee realized that a nice Gibbs just wasn't useful to him in terms of actually having to learn and grow.

Tony hadn't been head slapped in weeks.

Ziva had been sent to anger management classes after lashing out on three murderers. Gibbs had sent her to interrogate them and, given the fact that she hadn't talked to anyone about her feelings in weeks, that had not been the best idea.

Vance hadn't anticipated how much Gibbs' team would change with him and how useless their work became after a while. He would have to do something about that.

Even Gibbs slowly started to realize that the return of his family might not have been completely positive. Kelly was not the problem. She was perfect in every way and even without her Dad she had grown up to be a successful young woman, with a little family of her own. She had custody of a cute two year old boy after her Ex had waved all his rights.

Shannon on the other hand was a bigger problem to Jethro than he would ever admit, than he would ever have thought. Of course he still loved her and none of that would ever change, but somehow he still managed to lay awake at night, holding his wife in his arms while thinking about another woman...

TBC

A/N: I'm sorry, if this is a little messy... I haven't really written anything in weeks and this used to be a fantasy I had before I went to sleep at night... every night... for months... probably even years... well... ever since I ship Zibbs...

Anyway... I hope I didn't make as many spelling and grammar mistakes as I think and I really, really hope you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

Shannon had already been back for half a year when she realized that Jethro might have changed after all. Before that, she had always seen him exactly as the man he had been when she saw him last – happy and hopelessly in love with her.

The change became obvious when he came home from work one night. It had been a very difficult case and, no matter how much Shannon tried to help, he would not let her. He went straight to his basement, to the boat he had been neglecting for weeks, to the beer he hadn't tasted since the night before his wife came back. He stayed in the basement all night, saying no to every kind of food Shannon offered him, looking more depressed than Shannon had ever seen.

Not wanting to talk about his day, Jethro sent Shannon away, telling her that everything was classified. It wasn't, but he felt like his real reason not to tell her would just hurt her feelings.

'I don't want to talk to YOU, I want to talk to Ziva. She knows what happened today, she knows how I feel, she knows what I need! What I need is to sit here and drink and maybe talk a little. I don't want to be pushed. I need my time. I need my boat. I need Ziva!', would be a very bad thing to say to his wife.

Jethro himself had already known that something was different. He had known it for weeks. Only a few months after Shannon had come home, Jethro had found himself spending more and more time thinking of Ziva. The nights he spent with her, drunk in his basement, was something he missed to no end. No matter how many nights he lay awake next to his wife, he never really thought that his affection for Ziva would ever be more than just friendly.

He used to think that he just missed his best friend, that he missed talking to her, that he missed the person who understood him best.

Six months after his wife's return, he began to realize that his friendship with Ziva might have been more than that after all.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

At work, everything had been back to normal for a few weeks. Jethro was back to his grumpy self and therefor everyone around him was back to doing good work again. Tony got his head slaps back, McGee had a reason to work harder, Ducky had a reason to shut up every once in a while.

Even Ziva was halfway back to normal. After being completely lost for a while, without her best friend, she finally started to get used to the new situation.

That one day, six months after Shannon's return, everything had taken a turn for the worse.

There had been an explosion on the navy yard, leaving eight marines dead and therefor eight murders to investigate. Gibbs had sent McGee to help Abby in the lab, figuring that she would need help staying calm at the sight of the crime scene photos. Tony and Ziva were sent to bring in the families of all eight marines.

35 hours, eight grieving families and about a million cups of coffee later, the killer was finally in custody. Gibbs sent home his team as soon as he had the confession and then told the families that the bastard was caught.

On his way home, Jethro couldn't stop thinking about Ziva. Throughout the day, she had kept looking at him with this concerned look on her face, that made him want to hug it away and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

In her own apartment, miles away from Gibbs' house, Ziva couldn't help but think about her boss again. This case must have been horrible for him, remembering his own accident.

'I wonder if he even told Shannon about that...' He probably hadn't, trying to protect her from the nightmares that came with it. The whole team still had them, yet, Gibbs had the worst ones. He told her about them sometimes – in his basement, drunk – and they would talk about their memories of that day. Ziva would tell him that she, too, had nightmares about that day. Loosing him was one of the things she really couldn't cope at that point, at any point.

That day had brought them closer than any other case ever had. He had remembered because of her, he had come back from Mexico for her, he had never told anyone about those nightmares, anyone but her. Even the whole Ari-thing had never had as much influence on their relationship. It had brought them together in the first place, yes, but the explosion had made them friends, best friends.

Somehow, just thinking about Gibbs made Ziva miss him more. Of course she had gotten used to the new situation, but being able to function doesn't equal being fine with everything.

She wanted her best friend back. She needed to talk to him, because she couldn't talk to anyone else. No one else would understand.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

TBC

A/N: It's kinda horrible to try and write a story that has been in your head for years... you know... a story you love so much that your own writing doesn't seem to be good enough.

It makes me hate this story and I hate this feeling... but I'll write it anyway... because as long as people read it and like it I'm still glad I'm writing it down...

I really hope you like it!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Before I keep going with this I just want to say thank you for all the nice reviews! You guys are the only reason why I'm still writing this story... please keep telling me what you think!

Now back to the story...

Shannon had noticed the change in her husband and, although she tried her best to find out what was wrong, he would not tell her a thing. She organized a little picnic with Kelly and the two year old Jethro jr, but even a day spent with his family could not make him happy for long. Then she started planning a little vacation, just her and her husband, and even got director Vance to give Jethro the week off, but trying to recreate their honeymoon didn't seem to help Gibbs' mood either.

Her last idea was a trip to visit Jethro's dad. They would leave on Friday, take Kelly and Jethro jr., and drive to Stillwater. Shannon had everything planned perfectly. They would even be back Sunday afternoon, so her husband didn't miss work. Kelly and her son were already looking forward to seeing Gibbs sr. again and vice versa.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

For Jethro it became more and more difficult to think about anything but Ziva. The picnic with his family had taken his mind off of his beautiful co-worker for about 2 hours until he saw a dark haired woman in running clothes walking by them. The vacation that was supposed to remind him of his honeymoon with Shannon only reminded him of his time in Mexico and every single one of the dark haired women lying on the beach next to him and his wife reminded him of the beautiful Israeli.

When Shannon came to him with the idea, they should go and visit his father, he hated it. Jackson would surely ask about the team and since he had liked Ziva very much the first time he met her, he would definitely ask more questions about her than any other member of Team Gibbs.

Jethro wanted anything but to sit between his father, his daughter and his wife, talking about his best friend, or whatever she was now.

He needed to find a way to get out of this.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

The Friday they were supposed to leave for Stillwater, Shannon dropped by the bullpen for lunch. Gibbs was still in MTAC, so she started telling the team about their plans for the weekend. Ziva couldn't help but get jealous and, for the first time in a while, it was actually noticeable.

When Jethro walked out of MTAC he stopped at the railing, looking down on his team and wife. None of them had any idea that he was watching and from where he stood he could hear and see everything. Shannon was talking about how much she was looking forward to seeing Jackson again after so many years and how excited Kelly was to finally be close to her grandpa again.

Jethro couldn't help but look at Ziva the whole time and the look on her face made him want to stay and hug her all night. She looked like someone had just killed her puppy and apparently that someone was Shannon.

Gibbs was not and idiot. It might have taken him a few moments but after looking back and forth between Ziva and Shannon a few times it became clear to him that Ziva too was having difficulties with this situation, with Shannon.

After spying on his team for roughly five minutes, Jethro made his way down.

The current case was nowhere close to finished and even though the team would manage without him – they were the best agents he knew – he thought of it as an opportunity to stay.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

That night, Jethro went home to an empty house, or so he thought.

He had told Shannon to take Kelly and Jethro jr. to see Jackson, while he would stay and help his team solve the case. His wife had not been happy about this plan, considering that the trip was supposed to be good for their marriage, but she had gone anyway. She didn't want to disappoint her daughter.

When Gibbs opened the door to his house, everything felt different. Shannon wasn't there to greet him and the door to his basement was wide open. The thought of what this might imply made him smile. Ziva knew he would be alone tonight. She knew he hadn't gone to Stillwater with the rest of his family.

Walking down the stairs to his basement, his smile grew a little bigger – seeing Ziva standing there with two glasses of bourbon in next to her and an equally bright smile on her face.

He started crossing the room to stand in front of her, looking into her eyes, pulling her into a long needed hug.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

None of them wanted the hug to end. It was the first close contact they had in months and, no matter how inappropriate it was, it seemed like the only rational thing to do – considering that most other things that came to his mind, were even more inappropriate.

When he loosened the hug, he still held her close to him with one arm around her waist and his other hand came up to pull a strand of her hair behind her ear.

'Not one of my brightest moments, really. I should have known it wouldn't stop at this. No man in his right mind would stop at this – not with Ziva in his arms!'

She leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering close as a wave of arousal ran through her. She knew it was wrong and she really should have stopped herself, but in this moment her mind went completely blank. She acted on autopilot and her body really wanted to be closer to this perfect man in front of her.

When Jethro didn't take his hand away from her and ran it down her cheek, down her neck, Ziva took this as a sign that he didn't want to stop this either. Well, he might have wanted to stop this at some point, but the rational part of his mind had lost every last bit of control about halfway through the hug.

The beautiful Israeli, acting on instinct, leaned into her boss a little more, their faces closer than ever before, lips almost touching.

Jethro's eyes fell shut as he closed the remaining distance between them and kissed her softly.

Moments later their kiss was anything but soft. Ziva was now sitting on his work bench, her legs wrapped around his waist, tongue fighting for dominance in the kiss they would never have to justify in front of each other.

They both wanted it, they both needed it, they both were completely sober and after all, everything they felt for each other was explained in this one kiss.

It was needy and aggressive, but still managed to be gentle and loving. Afterward, he wouldn't need to tell her that he loved her, that he had already chosen her over Shannon. He wouldn't need to tell her how much he had missed her and how much he wanted her to be with him forever. He wouldn't need to hear her say: 'I love you, too.' and he wouldn't need to hear how much she had missed him, too.

His hands were at her hips, pulling her closer, then roaming her body slowly, imprinting everything in his brain. One of her hands was in his hair, that gorgeous, silver hair, while the other one was trying to get rid of his shirt, unbuttoning it as fast as possible.

A moment later his shirt was finally off and hers followed almost instantly. He couldn't help but take a step back and look at her for a moment. She was perfect in every way and in that instant, Jethro wondered how he deserved to be with such a flawless woman.

Ziva took that moment to run her fingers over his chest and traced every single scar. When her eyes found his again, she saw the sadness in them and though she didn't know why he would be sad now, she guessed asking him about it might not be the best idea. Instead, pulled him back to her and kissed him gently, showing him that it was really him she wanted, making all his doubts useless.

When all clothes had finally come off, they had made their way over to the couch. It was the same couch that used to be in his living room before Shannon redecorated.

Ziva was straddling his hips and his arms were around her waist, pulling her close to him. She broke the kiss to look at him for a second and there was that smile of his, the one that usually meant: I know something you don't and I probably wont tell you!'

She looked at him curiously 'What?' and without really answering her question, he turned them around so that he was now on top of her. She couldn't help but laugh and wrapped her legs around his waist once again.

'Condom?' It wasn't really a question. He knew they were both safe and he knew she wanted a child someday, but was still on the pill as of now. Even if she wasn't, he was prepared to have as many babies with her as she wanted.

She just shook her head and kissed him again.

When she could finally feel him inside of her, she was happily surprised to realize how big he was. His work clothes never really did his justice and even those jeans he usually wears in his basement had not prepared her for this. She couldn't help but moan deeply every time he thrust into her.

TBC

A/N: the next one will probably be them waking up in the morning... I used to be good at smut, but somehow I really can't seem to know how to finish this... also: Do we really need any more than this? I mean the rest we can all imagine in our minds... haha... I'll just hope that you all have a dirty mind like me :D

Hope you liked it anyway...


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm so sorry I didn't update earlier... my second semester of college started three weeks ago, so I was kinda busy... that's not really an excuse though... I could have made time... I just didn't really know how to go on with this... But today I started to try anyway... so here goes.

The next morning.

When Jethro woke up he couldn't help but smile. He was down in his basement, lying on his old couch, in his arms the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She smiled at him with dark brown eyes and softly ran her hand over his naked chest.

_Shannon would have left to take a shower by now._

The thought about his wife made him feel horrible. He had cheated on her repeatedly last night and it hadn't even bothered him at that point. All that counted was Ziva and him, reaching a whole new level of love. He would have to tell Shannon as soon as possible. His relationship with Ziva shouldn't be build on a lie, an affair.

Glancing at the clock Shannon had hung up in his basement when she decided to limit his time down there to two hours a week, he realized that his wife would be home in less than two hours. As much as he enjoyed his time with Ziva and hated making her leave, he wouldn't be able to tell Shannon while the beautiful Israeli was still in his house. It would just be too much. He couldn't hurt her like that, shouldn't hurt her more than necessary.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

When Shannon walked into the house, she came home to a nervous husband. It shocked her to see him like this, since he had never been prone to that kind of emotion. She wondered why he would be nervous to see her, but stepping deeper into the house she slowly started thinking into the right direction.

The house didn't smell like her, it smelled like the day she had come back here for the first time in years. A mix of sawdust, coffee, Jethro's aftershave and a woman's perfume. Of course Shannon didn't know that, up to that day, Ziva had made a habit of showering at his house after their drunk nights. The red haired woman had always wondered who this scent might belong to, but mixed in with all the Jethro-typical scents she would never have recognized Ziva in it.

That day the house smelled like that again and, while it was calming Jethro down a little bit, it alarmed Shannon on a very emotional level.

He had never told her about any woman spending the nights here, a friend or girlfriend, or even a one-night-stand, but she had let it go, thinking she might have been wrong. Smelling it again made her feel jealous and just as nervous as Jethro probably was. What would he tell her? Would it really be as bad as the images that just ran through her mind? Jethro and another woman.

"I'm sorry.", he said quietly, yet loud enough for her to hear, "I can't... I can't stop this anymore... I don't want to stop this anymore."

"You don't want to stop what?"

"Ziva... She used to be my best friend. We could talk for hours about everything, **everything. **She kept me alive over the last few years... She... She helped me get over you."

Shannon hadn't even realized the tears that started forming in her eyes until one of them landed on her shirt.

"Nothing happened... Nothing happened before last night."

She noticed he didn't cry. He still sounded nervous, but he didn't cry. It was like this wasn't making him sad at all. Or maybe he had just thought about it long enough. Maybe he was already over her.

"I'm sorry, Shannon. I love you, I really do. I just... I think I fell in love with Ziva over the years. I can't … stay married to you. I need to be with her. It hurt so much, not to have her around so much, not to be able to hug her when I needed to."

The tears kept running down her face as she waited for that one sentence that would end this conversation.

"I want to be with her. You deserve better than that!"

With that he took the pre-packed bag from behind the couch, where she hadn't seen it, walked over to his wife, gave her a kiss on the forehead and left the house.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Hearing your opinions always makes me wanna write another chapter, so please keep them coming ;)

Chapter 6

She hadn't even noticed it. She hadn't even thought that there could be another woman in his life. After all this time apart, she had just expected him to still be there waiting for her. It didn't matter to her that he thought she was dead, because she believed that he would be grieving forever, never getting over her. In her imagination he had always been nothing but happy to see her again and other women – though he would probably have gotten married again – would never live up to her. She thought she was the only woman who could ever really make him happy.

In reality it hadn't been much different, or at least that was what she thought. He had been more than happy to see her and in the better part of two weeks, he told her everything that had happened in his life and she told him everything that happened in hers. He had mentioned his three marriages to the red-heads that reminded him of her, he had mentioned Jenny and Hollis and the woman with the red convertible. He had told her every detail about his relationships and how he had always searched for a woman that could replace her, but never found that person. In retrospect, Shannon couldn't believe that he already loved Ziva at that point. Maybe he didn't even know what he felt. Maybe it had surprised him just as much as her.

Over time, Jethro had become more distant and wanted to spend more and more time in his basement, working on his boat. After he had spent three days working later than he needed and then going directly to his boat, without so much as a kiss for his wife, Shannon had made a new rule: He was not allowed to spend more than two hours a week in his basement, with his damn boat.

Of course he hadn't liked that, just as much as he hadn't liked the fact that Shannon desperately needed to redecorate the house in the first two weeks of her arrival. She had wanted to make it more cozy and was convinced that he had forgotten how cozy felt, living alone for all these years without the perfect woman to take care of him.

She did realize that he had changed – a lot – and she did her best not to annoy him too much, to let him get readjusted to her presence. No one would really call Jethro grumpy, not like an old man, but he did tend to be very calm and easily aggravated. Shannon also always felt like he was hiding something from her, something major. Ducky had mentioned something like that at her 'Welcome back from death' party Abby had organized. He had told her that the things Jethro probably wasn't telling her had mainly to do with the job and that he only kept them from her to protect her. In conclusion, she had never really asked many questions about his life and hoped that he would tell her on his own one day.

All this time she would never have thought that he would leave her, that he would ever choose another woman over her. Somehow she had never even considered that possibility and now that it happened, she couldn't help but ask herself if she should have known.

No, she shouldn't have. How could she have known about this? He never told her anything about Ziva. She only finds out now, that they had been best friends. They had always seemed like they were just coworkers, nothing more. And how could she ever imagine that he would tell her about all his ex-wives but not about his best friend? This made her think: Maybe he **did** already love Ziva. Maybe he knew he had feelings for her, but tried to suppress them for the sake of his perfect marriage. Either way, he told her as soon as he knew. He told her because she deserved better – she knew that.

No matter how much losing Jethro hurt her, she would have to spend the rest of her life without him and somehow, knowing that he had found happiness was enough for her to let him go. It wouldn't help anyone to hold on to a relationship that has run it's course. He was in love with someone else and in a way, Shannon had a feeling she would find someone, too.

TBC

A/N: I just felt like I was a bit harsh with the last chapter. Somehow I always considered Gibbs' honesty one of his best qualities. So, well, Shannon loves him, but knowing he loves Ziva more than her helps her letting him go. I really hope that this chapter makes this clear... I didn't really know how to put it... this was the best I could manage.

Next chapter will probably be more about Ziva and Gibbs and their new-found-but-always-been-there love :D


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Wheeee... two chapters in a row... I was thinking about putting this up in a few days, but I decided to put it up today... because I like knowing that my stories are finished (though I think not all of them are...) anyway... Enjoy the last chapter!

Chapter 7.

Maybe he doesn't want to come. Maybe he changed his mind about us. Maybe Shannon is just not home yet. Maybe she doesn't let him go so easily. Maybe he doesn't want her to let him go. Maybe he couldn't tell her tonight, for some reason. Maybe he doesn't love. Maybe it was just me. Maybe it was even just a dream.

Ziva David wasn't used to this. She had spent her whole life being completely independent, never really needing or wanting anyone around, if not necessary. She had wanted her father to be around more, but quickly realized that he wasn't the nice man she had considered him to be when she was still a child. She had always looked up to him and now he was only the man who made her who she is. She didn't want to spend time with him. He wasn't a good man and he never would be. Ari had also betrayed her and no matter how close they had been before that, that one day in Gibbs' basement she had made a decision – the decision that he, just like their father, was a terrible person. She was surrounded by those people and, in choosing to leave Mossad and join NCIS, she finally found a real family.

She needed Abby like a sister, Ducky like a close uncle, McGee like a reliable brother, Tony like a brother who would always make her laugh and Gibbs like a best friend, boss, lover. And for the first time in her life, she actually felt needed, too. Sure her father had needed her, but more in a work related sense. Now there was a team of people, a team of friends that needed her just as much as she needed them. She was happy about every day she could spend with them.

But right now, in this very moment, she felt lost. She didn't know if Gibbs was coming tonight. Sure, he had told her to wait for him and that it might take a while to explain to Shannon what was going on, but nothing had prepared her for the horrible feeling she felt now.

How could she be sure he hadn't changed his mind about being with her, was it even her place to ask that of him? Who was she? How could she take away another woman's husband, just like that? She felt sorry for Shannon, even though she knew that every other way would have been cruel to her. If they had carried on behind her back for a while, if they had stopped only to start back up again after a while and making it all worse by lying to her. Ziva knew that telling Shannon right now was the best way, the only way.

Jethro was hurting her now, because waiting and lying would make it worse, would hurt her more.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

On the way to his car, Jethro couldn't help but turn around for a moment and look at the house he had shared with so many women. The house Kelly grew up in, at least in the beginning. The house he could never sell. At that moment he made the decision to leave the house to Shannon and his daughter. They would be happy there. It had been theirs all along.

He and his beautiful Israeli would find another place to live. A house with a basement for his boat and a big kitchen for Ziva's delicious creations. There would be a big TV in the living room, so the team could come over and have movie night at their place. And there would have to be one or two rooms for children. He knew Ziva wanted kids and he loved the idea of having a family with her. For a short moment, a picture popped into his head. A little girl, dark hair like Ziva's and blue eyes like Jethro's. _Very realistic, Jethro_. He couldn't help but smile at the fact idea of a little Ziva. She wouldn't even need blue eyes to be perfect, would look just like her mother. She would turn the heads of every boy in school.

Arriving at the Israeli's apartment, Jethro wondered how the team would react. Abby would be extremely surprised and she'd need a moment to get used to the thought, but she would be happy for them. McGee, too. Ducky would understand, he knew how close they had been before Shannon came back and somehow he always seemed to know everything. Tony would be difficult. He'd be protective of Ziva and maybe a little jealous, probably very jealous. Vance would be alright. He would need to be, Jethro was going to take care of that.

ZibbsZibbsZibbsZibbs

Ziva was still pacing around nervously, thinking he might have changed his mind, when she heard the knock on the door. Opening it slowly, she saw Jethro standing outside her apartment with a smile on his face and a bag of clothes in his hand.

Stepping inside, he put the bag on the ground close to her door and pulled his flawless coworker into his arms, closing the door behind himself. They made their way into the bedroom, undressing each other slowly. She smelled like strawberries and her hair felt softer than anything he had ever felt. He smelled like coffee and the wood of his boat, a mixture she would love forever.

About an hour later, Ziva and Gibbs were lying in bed, completely spent and happier than ever before. He finally held her in his arms again, this time without feeling guilty because of Shannon. Ziva was glad she had finally found a man who she could trust unconditionally and who would be there for her whenever she needed him.

And so they fell asleep, the bedroom filled with the scent of wood and coffee and strawberries and sex.

THE END.

A/N: So I guess this is the end... I hope you all liked it. If you have any ideas what I should write next, message me! Like I said, this has been in my head for years and I mainly wrote it down, because I never wanted to forget it, but now it's time for other stories... I guess.


End file.
